best and worst places to buy frony clips/half cuts..

[junintegra]

please post the best and worst websites to by clips or where you might have gotten one.please include service, quality and satisfaction.

[chineseb0i]

i got mine at my brother's friends' shop. They had it ordered. I guess a good place to get it is at a dependable shop known for good service. This way if they install it improperly, they will fix it too. It's better than those people selling crappy SR motors who will install it for a great price but the quality will be sloppy and all chopped up. If you get a swap, you want to get it done right. As far as sights, i know www.srswap.com carry clips as well as upgrades. Somewhat expensive but it comes with a start up fee. They do compression tests too to ensure quality and no leakage.

[aeontony]

Again, the big names will all take care of you I'm sure-meaning phase2, enjuku, sr20store..

Then one tier below would be Neishlin-I think really good but I've heard complaints.

Then there are the iffy ones like Venus auto.

Then there are the ones you avoid like Osaka Motors.

[240_keyy]

I got my clip from phase 2 motortrend, probably won't buy one from anyone else when I swap my wife's 240...

[HaLo]

Originally posted by aeontony
Then there are the ones you avoid like Osaka Motors.

Hey! ;)
I got my engine from them! ;)

[Pudula]

Yeah, Phase2 = Ownage

[adey]

From most of what I've heard, I recommend you stay the **** away from Neishlin/Cartune! ... They've gotten a really, really bad rap lately, and have had very mixed results in the past.

That said... a more and more popular choice these days seems to be ABCD/JDM Recycler in El Monte (about 20 - 30 minutes east of LA depending on traffic). I know that Bryan Norris and Tommy Chen (? - Speedtrialusa director) get all their stuff done there, including their SRs. If it's good enough for them, it's likely they're good enough for you!

[Bbandit]

stay away from flashoption
i heard so many horror stories about them
the shop is located on the other half of the earth

[TheSparo]

well my clip from venus should be here in a week or so, so.... i will see..

[old_s13]

I had excellent experience with Marco Vargas (sr20store.com), he is a very honest, reputable, knowledgeable and nice guy to deal with. Wayne @ Phase2 is also a great guy, I wouldnt think twice from buying from Wayne.

In the long run, it always comes down to price and whats in stock. But with both of these people, I wouldnt mind paying more to ENSURE you get a working clip and replacement of misc parts should anything be broken.

[junintegra]

do all these stores specialize in nissan? cuz i need to know places that deal with all companies too. have you guys heard/ dealt with tpautomotive.com?how are they?

[meme]

i got mine from jdm recycler. i thought it was a good deal cause t had lots of goodies. paided 2300+tax+shipping. that day i went to look at it it had coil-overs,pillow mounts, cluster,brakes etc..

they deliveried the clip that day. but all that stuff was all gone. they even took the head lights! athey said it was company policy to strip it clean. the thing that gets me is he didn't say anything about that at the time. plus they had a motor they were shipping out that still had all that stuff on it.
so i am not going to get anything else from them

[autobahNESSA]

I also had got a clip from JDM Recycler

I had arranged that they start it up when i got their. I get their and they dont have the equpment to test it, my mistake was to accept it.
He told me face to face that it was guarenteed to run properly, with no problems.
Well i get it home, water pump is bad, turbo is completly seized and the big one!!!
The oil line from the block to the turbo was stripped, so oil just gusshed out onto the floor. Know I did get a replacement turbo, although it took a long time to get it to me. Basically what should have been done in 3 days, took two month because of JDM recyclers time schedule.

[meme]

yup; he told me that he check the oil pan and it was perfect. when i got it out there was a big dent on it!! also the turbo was bad. but i had an upgraded turbo that i was going to install anyways.. when i need another one i'm going to try srswap or phase 2

[zero.counter]

Originally posted by meme
i got mine from jdm recycler. i thought it was a good deal cause t had lots of goodies. paided 2300+tax+shipping. that day i went to look at it it had coil-overs,pillow mounts, cluster,brakes etc..

they deliveried the clip that day. but all that stuff was all gone. they even took the head lights! athey said it was company policy to strip it clean. the thing that gets me is he didn't say anything about that at the time. plus they had a motor they were shipping out that still had all that stuff on it.
so i am not going to get anything else from them
I have heard of that hybridz swap place, I can't remember the name exactly someone help, doing that as well. Personal experience would be srswap.com for being the sh1t on customer service and they know what they are doing.:rawk:

[aeontony]

Are you thinking of unstable hybrids? I think they're pretty reputable..the owner actually browses/contributes to FA quite a bit. Complaints from customers do come about occasionally, but they're pretty rare.

[zero.counter]

Originally posted by aeontony
Are you thinking of unstable hybrids? I think they're pretty reputable..the owner actually browses/contributes to FA quite a bit. Complaints from customers do come about occasionally, but they're pretty rare.
Yeah, thats it I believe. Do a search about 2-3 months ago, some guy got an SR from them and they told him he was going to get everything with the clip. When he got it, he was ****ed because it was stripped and they told him that it was policy to strip down before shipping.

[richardxfeng]

phase2 and motorex!no doubt!

[old_s13]

I wouldnt buy a bag of Doritos from Motorex.

As for DOING an SR swap, dont you guys even take apart the motors a bit to clean them up before INSTALLING them? A water pump is just common sense, how can you expect certain wear and tear items to last long like that? I changed just about everything on my 96-98 clip just to ensure that the work I am doing was going to pay off in the long run.

Doing quick swaps just to have an SR is a joke.

- Mike

[goodjuan]

i don't know for sure but jdmrecycler cooould no longer exist...

[richardxfeng]

Originally posted by old_s13
I wouldnt buy a bag of Doritos from Motorex.

WHY?

[old_s13]

Because by the time my Dorito's arrived, they would be stale.

(Take that for what its worth).

- Mike

[rednerd]

Neislin / Car tuned is terrible. See my recent post in the chat section. - Enjuku rocks!

[richardxfeng]

there is plenty of Neislin/Cartuned stories~~~kind of bored with that

[DRFT]

Any reviews of venus? because i live less thatn 10 miles away from them. I've been there a few times just to browse around but didn't buy anything. I heard they were shady but i don't know exactly is bad with them. One of their guys has a attitude problem kinda , or maybe its jsut me, but hes kinda rude.

[kidinthehall]

ive dealt with venus quite a bit lately, and have kinda mixed reviews on them. The motors were just recently delivered, and the cars should hopefully be running in the next few days.....

-I did leakdown tests on the motors and both came back nice

-One motor came with a couple of plugs cut off the wiring harness and half of the tranny bolts missing

-BOTH motors came with PHUCKED oil pans

-Venus did however send me 2 brand new factory oil pans to replace them, and there was no damage to the oil pickups that i could tell. my only hope is that it happened during shipping and not while the motors were in cars

-As far as communicating with them, it usually sucks, there is one receptionist Vickie that is very nice and has been a help keeping everything sorted out

-One motor also came with a short throw shifter and a light chrome moly flywheel..........but it also had a torched 3 puck clutch in it :doh:

[DudeYourSoOOJDM]

Mike....I beg to differ.

Called Motorex about a clip.....arrived next day and I bought it.

Dropped the car off on a Thursday, Picked it up on Tuesday.

Ordered Kouki taillights, they were there the next morning.

Ordered Tein HA's, came in 4 days.

Nothing but excellent service from Vernon, Ken, Ken, Klay, and Hiro.

It helps that the Kens, Vernon, and Klay all own 240's....

[richardxfeng]

i am going have motorex do the swap too!!

[ruf]

Originally posted by richardxfeng
i am going have motorex do the swap too!!
You forget to take your Xanax? Calm down...

I'm going to go home and take a dump!!!!

[richardxfeng]

what do you mean,ruf?

[ruf]

I mean I'm going home to take a dump!!! :aw:

[Spec_v5150]

Originally posted by aeontony
Again, the big names will all take care of you I'm sure-meaning phase2, enjuku, sr20store..

Then one tier below would be Neishlin-I think really good but I've heard complaints.

Then there are the iffy ones like Venus auto.

Then there are the ones you avoid like Osaka Motors.

I got my RB20 from Venus and had no qualms with it. The only iffy part was not getting a guage cluster...which I really didnt need, so I figured why waste the long distance call. The customer service left something to be desired. If I ever ordered something again, I would only speak with the owner or vicki. The others....well :rolleyes: My whole take on teh JDM thing is.....sure there are some people to shy away from mainly flashoptions and racinghard as they are both in malaysia and I personally think they are the same compnay. Flashoptions got a bad rep. Their websites look too similar for me. But we are talking about engine that can be as old as 14 years??? Some people expect fricking off the assembly line quality just because they are dropping thousands on a motor. My experiences with online forums is as such...most peope bitch about them getting a ****ed oil pan or whatever from a shop but dont post the aftermath. I heard so much bitching abiout venus before I got mine, but hardly any of those guys posted back saying hey I got a refund or hey I got that part in. One person got a refund and posted back. They offer a start up warranty and I would highly recommend them ESPECIALLY for RB's. I was looking for RB25's for some fellwo NICO members and I asked an engine seller if he had any. He said no as they are getting hard to get. He said Venus is the number 1 importer of RB's in the US and that 90%+ of people who sell RB's get them from Venus. Take it for what it is worth, but why would he say that if he himself sells RB engines. It isnt uncommon for one seller to buy said engine from another seller. Which goes to my next quote



Originally posted by old_s13
I wouldnt buy a bag of Doritos from Motorex.

As for DOING an SR swap, dont you guys even take apart the motors a bit to clean them up before INSTALLING them? A water pump is just common sense, how can you expect certain wear and tear items to last long like that? I changed just about everything on my 96-98 clip just to ensure that the work I am doing was going to pay off in the long run.

Doing quick swaps just to have an SR is a joke.

- Mike

This is 100% true right here. People recommend go with this place..they are expensive but get the job done...blah blah blah. A used engine is a used engine. There is no other way to slice it. You dont know how hard thet 40,000 mile SR clip was driven. But it came from srswap so it MUST be good. :rolleyes:
My plans are to get another longblock from Venus and have that fully rebuilt. Did I tear mine apart...no. However I am working on getting all the minor stuff from japan as we speak (head gasket, timing blet, water pump, etc). So I will do minor stuff to this one and have the other rebuilt from the ground up. Maybe its just me, but I dont get caught up in the quality hype anymore. Someone (wont say names) ruined that with his company bashing YET he himself would go buy clips from Venus and he tried to do that just a few weeks ago. Just my .02 cents. Sure I will get flamed for it but oh well...the threwad starter asked for opinions

[shayrgob240]

what do u guys think about getting an engine from ebay?

[nokeone]

getting anything from EBAY is hit or miss...50/50...i wouldn't do it...i'd want to see my clip first...i encourage people who buy clips from me to come and see it in person...go over it with them...make sure they understand exactly what they are getting...i think one of the biggest problems is lack of communication on both sides...and people assume things...which just leads to the potential for dissapointment...

you wouldn't buy a car without test driving it right??..why buy a clip without seeing it?..i know this is not possible in every situation but you can at least get all the info, pictures, and guarantees in writing...that way you are protected if somethin goes wrong..

:)

good luck..

[gregsr20]

i got my clip from venus-auto.com, very satisfied, and about unstable hybrids, they did my wiring and ****ed it all up, i had to rewire the whole thing myself, not to mention you can't get the bastards on the phone, and when i did, they basically told me, sorry, how's your asshole feel? sorry about the language and yes the sentence is a run-on

[gregsr20]

the clip i got also came w/ hks cams, aftermarket clutch, flywheel, nardi classico steering wheel, jdm cluster, hks filter:eek:

[S13 Sleeper]

Is XAT racing out of Tampa any good I was looking to them to do my complete install and they have a great package deal.

[harryhood]

how about jkmotorsports and epik. I'm deciding between the two. jk gets theirs from venus and epik says they order theirs from "different distributors". epik is somewhat cheaper price wise (jk-3300 for a s13 blacktop clip vs. epik 2700-2900). both place have plenty of experience and seem to have a good rep. I've only talked to one person about jk and that was a positive experience.

[Spec_v5150]

LOL if they admitted to getting their clips from Venus, cut out the middle man. Why pay them more to source the clip? Call Venus and see what they charge for s13 blacktops. Alot of these people buy from Venus and then jack up the price. For example. Venus had a monthly special on RB20's. I paid 1200 plus shipping for mine. Now that 8 month long "monthly" special is over and they charge 1500 plus shipping. No one has prices that low. Everywhere else I see charges 2350. And the same guy who told me he got his RB's from Venus, sold his for...you guessed it...2350.

[harryhood]

Originally posted by Spec_v5150
LOL if they admitted to getting their clips from Venus, cut out the middle man. Why pay them more to source the clip? Call Venus and see what they charge for s13 blacktops. Alot of these people buy from Venus and then jack up the price. For example. Venus had a monthly special on RB20's. I paid 1200 plus shipping for mine. Now that 8 month long "monthly" special is over and they charge 1500 plus shipping. No one has prices that low. Everywhere else I see charges 2350. And the same guy who told me he got his RB's from Venus, sold his for...you guessed it...2350.

partly becuase I think that the risk of getting a messed up motor is less if I order from jk instead of venus, plus with jk I wouldn't have to pay shipping. I've also heard a few horror stories from venus customers and none from jk.

I want to do this once, and I want to do this right. If that means a few extra benjamins then that's fine.

[AJs14]

LS Automotive in Baldwin Park, CA. My friend Kevin owns the Drag Sport, black s13. It recently dynoed 297 rwhp/287 tq. They just did one of the Falken Tires s14. They can trouble shoot as well. They have articles all over TPR magazine.